The Person They Want Me To Be
by Tori Moxley
Summary: When her father got a job opportunity in Lima, Ohio, Nikole was ecstatic to leave her private prep school in Quebec. It was a fresh start, and a new beginning, a chance to finally be the person she felt like on the inside. Not Nikole, but Nikolas. Yes, Nikolas Pendleton was ready to start his new life in Lima. But was William McKinley High ready for him? Kurt Hummel/OC. Season 1


**When I first started planning this story (over a fucking month ago for all 6 seasons, plus a spin-off and a collection of one-shots and drabbles), it was my intention to have every chapter, or every few chapters, based on a single episode from each season. Obviously chapter one is the** _Pilot_ **episode, but I've also taken things from the episode** _2009_ , **because it tells the story of how all the original members of the Glee club came to be. However, it appears that I can't make a single episode one chapter, so each episode will be a few chapters. As much as I do love Kurt, this story was more of an excuse to write for a transgender character, something I've been dying to do for a while now. I would like to give you readers one warning and one spoiler before you proceed with this story. Like the show, not every couple that you see will make it to the end of season/story 6. To be quite honest, Klaine is the end game for any relationship involving Kurt. If this doesn't bother you, by all means, read on.**

* * *

"Are you ready for your first day, _ma chérie?"_ The question was rhetorical, and thus the silence that followed was ignored from both his parents as they pulled their enormous black Suburban up to the front entrance of William McKinley High School. Students didn't seem to notice or care about the SUV's presence, which was somewhat comforting; the last thing Kole wanted to do was draw any more attention to himself, he would have enough scrutiny against him for enrolling in McKinley High a week after school officially started.

Deep brown eyes surveyed the student population safely from the back seat of the full sized SUV. There were jocks with their letterman jackets, cheerleaders with short skirts and ponytails. An Asian goth girl pushing the wheelchair of a disabled boy, and a boy wearing a designer jacket being tossed in the dumpster. "You'll fit right in, _chérie."_

Kole seriously doubted it, but his parents weren't giving him much of a choice. Homeschooling would take time away from running their restaurant in downtown Lima, which was the ultimate reason the Pendleton family moved across the board from Canada. The authentic French inspired restaurant would be in direct competition with another restaurant in town. Not something well-known, like Olive Garden, but a hole-in-the-wall place called Breadstix.

Feeling his father's gaze on his face, Kole wrapped his slightly trembling fingers around the strap of his messenger bag, swallowed the lump in his throat and willed his breakfast of croissants and milk to not make a second appearance as he opened the door and stepped out of the car. His Converse clad feet made no noise as he walked across the street, tightening his grip on the strap of his bag as he kept his head down and tried to avoid making eye contact with anybody.

He was, for the most part, successful. He knew that students were staring at him, he could feel their curious eyes burning holes in the back of his shirt as he entered the building, but nobody tried to stop him, or talk to him, and he decided very quickly, after witnessing the dumpster toss, that he would avoid talking to anyone for as long as he could. He didn't own any clothing that even came close to being as expensive as that Marc Jacobs jacket, but he liked his clothes and he didn't want them to smell like garbage or get stained by unknown substances.

William McKinley High School was pretty straightforward. When Kole walked through the front doors, he was immediately greeted by an enormous trophy case filled with shiny trophies, pictures and prized ribbons. Most of them were for athletics, but there was a small section filled with accomplishments from the arts programs, the Glee club in particular. Kole eyed the large Nationals trophy as he headed towards the main office, weaving in and out of the crowd of students.

Compared to the chaos of the hallways, the office was a safe haven. The secretary that sat behind the large oak desk eyed Kole but didn't say anything until he stepped forward and tried to calm the shaking in his hands. "Hi," he began softly, blushing at how high pitched his voice had gone. "Umm, I'm a new student here, today is my first day…"

"Oh yes," The secretary said, sitting up straighter in her chair. "You must be Nikole Pendleton."

Whatever color had been in Kole's face was immediately drained when he heard that name. "Umm, t-there must be some kind of mistake." He squeaked nervously, "My name is N-Nikolas Pendleton."

The secretary raised an eyebrow at him, before reaching past an open, fun sized bag of Cool Ranch Doritos to move her mouse, waking the computer on her desk up from its sleeping state. Kole could feel not only his hands shaking, but a quiver in his knees as well as she took her time to look him up in the system of students. Sweat began to gather at his temples as she glanced from her computer screen to Kole and back to the computer screen.

"My files say Nikole Pendleton." She finally said, rolling her eyes. Kole's heart nearly leapt into his throat when she shook her head and muttered, "I need to have a talk with that new secretary," as her fingers began typing furiously on her keyboard. When the sound of a printer began to hum to life, she wheeled her chair back and grabbed a series of papers that began print from the opposite side of her desk.

"I'm sorry about the delay, Nikolas." She apologized as she rolled back to her computer. "I'm afraid you're going to be late for homeroom. I'll have a student called from your next class to show you around the school." She rolled the chair closer to him and Kole bent over the desk, listening intensely as she explained his new schedule to him, a few rules that the school had and briefly mentioned about the clubs and extracurricular activities that were offered as well.

"You can have a seat and I'll call for your guide." The secretary said, already picking up the phone next to the Doritos. Kole sank into one of the arm chairs next to the window as though his body were completely boneless. He honestly couldn't believe it worked, she believed his excuse about the name in the system being a mistake. He thanked God that this secretary was not the same person his mother talked to on the phone when she was explaining their situation and enrolling him for his freshman year of high school. This was already going much better than he had anticipated, although to be fair, his hopes weren't too high to begin with. The teasing, the name calling, the bullying in general was what Kole had expected from McKinley; the same way he expected it from his private prep school in Montreal. It didn't make it right, but it did make Kole more aware of how cruel people could be, especially when faced with a situation or circumstance they don't know anything about.

The little bell that hung above the door chimed when the door was pushed open and a boy walked through. Kole instantly recognized him as the same boy who was thrown in the dumpster earlier today. "Thank you for coming, Kurt." The secretary said, addressing the boy who stood in the doorway with most of his weight shifted to one leg, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at Kole with clear glasz eyes and an expression that was just short of boredom.

"Nikolas, this is Kurt Hummel. He'll be your guide for today, showing you around the school." Kole waved at the boy nervously, but he didn't even seem phased. "Kurt, this is Nikolas Pendleton. He and his family just moved here from Canada."

"Let's go." Kurt said, "I'm going to miss my first class."

Kole jumped to his feet with the energy of a caffeinated chipmunk as he hurried after the boy, who had already begun walking off. The moment Kole caught up to him, Kurt held out a hand expectantly, and Kole, not sure what to do, placed his own hand in his. The boy's eyes widened in shock and fear before he pulled his hand away, cradling it to his chest as though Kole has burned him.

"Give me your schedule," he hissed, "not your hand!"

Blushing in embarrassment, Kole sifted through the papers that the secretary gave him and put the schedule in his guide's hands, being extra careful not to touch his skin. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what you meant." He apologized, biting his pale pink lip.

The other boy didn't say anything else about it, just eyed Kole warily before he quickly skimmed over his schedule, making mental notes to himself before addressing the newest student. "We have the same French class but your schedule looks kind of muffed up." He observed more to himself than to Kole.

"What do you mean?" Kole asked, looking slightly confused. One barrier he knew he would face while living in America was language; Growing up in Quebec meant that Kole's first language was French. He understood English for the most part, being able to hold conversations without being too confused, but the one thing he was slightly worried about was slang. The words _muffed up_ sounded bad.

"Well, you're classes are all over the place." Kurt answered, pointing to the first class on the list, "You're in 10th grade French, 9th grade English, 9th grade history and 9th grade math." He looked at Kole with his perfectly arched eyebrows raised, "How old are you?"

"I'm turning fourteen in October." Kole answered. "I'm in Grade 9, but because I'm from Quebec, my _maman_ insisted that I should be in an advanced French class because she doesn't want me to forget my first language. 10th grade French was the best the school could do."

The boy nodded and muttered something under his breath. Kole was about to ask what he said, when he was pushed rather violently into a locker. Kurt quickly followed, holding out his hands to brace himself so he didn't hit Kole in the process. They didn't move, they didn't even speak until the two jocks with their letterman jackets disappeared down the hallway, laughing and high-fiving.

Kurt sighed heavily. "You'll need to get used to that." He said, straightening out his jacket and brushing away the imaginary lint it collected. Kole had slowly sunk down against the locker until he was sitting on the floor, trying to figure out what just happened. There were bullies at his old school, of course, but the assault was not physical, it was verbal and emotional. Kurt sighed again, holding out his hand to Kole, who eyed it warily from his lower position. After a few seconds of hesitation, Kole grabbed the hand extended to him and allowed Kurt to help him up.

"This school is going to eat you alive unless you have someone to help you." Kurt insisted as he started walking down the halls, Kole scurried to catch up with his long-legged strides. "You're fresh meat to all these Neanderthals, so I'm going to give you the dope to help you survive."

"I don't do drugs." Kole interjected immediately, hoping that his new friend wouldn't be too upset. His stomach clenched tightly at the thought of losing the only person he might be able to consider a friend because of his personal beliefs.

Kurt stared at him with a dumbfounded expression before he giggled slightly and shook his head. "Nikolas, you are so lucky they called me to show you around the school."

They made it to French only five minutes late, and the teacher, Madam Leroux, was very forgiving when Kurt explained why. She didn't make Kole introduce himself to the class, but she did sign the small sheet of paper that the secretary had given him, along with his schedule, and directed him to the only available seat, beside one of the jocks that shoved Kurt and himself into a locker.

Kurt frowned apologetically as Kole slowly walked past him and sat down next to the boy Madam Leroux called Azimio. It wasn't hard to see that Kurt was easily one of the best students in the class. He was the person Madam Leroux called on most often, probably because she knew that he would get the right answer. Kole wondered if it was his fluency in French that made the secretary chose him to help Kole find his way around the school. Either way, Kole was glad. They stuck together as the bell rang, they didn't share any other classes, so the two boys were forced to split up after Kurt showed him where his locker was. Kurt had his 10th grade math class to attend, while Kole was stuck in 9th grade English.

"I'll come and get you after your history class," Kurt mentioned as he and Kole stopped outside of the English class room. "We'll have lunch together." He added as he began to backtrack to his own class. Kole waved goodbye and watched him until he disappeared around the corner. Time spent in class without Kurt was somewhat boring. He didn't know anybody else in the school, and after being shoved into a locker, Kole wasn't exactly keen on making new friends. It was different with Kurt; sure, he may be forced to help Kole find his way around the school, but he didn't have to be nice about it – if you could actually call it 'being nice'. Standoffish would be a better word. Still, standoffish was better than being tossed in a dumpster or shoved into a locker. Plus, Kurt _did_ offer to have lunch with him.

By the time lunch came around, Kole was eager get out of his class and see Kurt again. Just the thought that he had someone waiting for him, willing to be seen in public with him and wanting to eat lunch with him calmed the anxiety he had been feeling all day. He smiled when Kurt rounded the corner and led him to the cafeteria. The smell of garlic and sweaty teenagers filled the small space. Kole wrinkled his nose is disgust when the lunch lady put a cardboard container of spaghetti on his tray, followed by a small side salad and a carton of milk. Kurt got the same thing, although he didn't look any happier about the meal plan as he led them to the only empty table in the cafeteria.

No sooner had they set their trays on the table did they pick them up again when a group of jocks approached them with raised eyebrows. Kole instantly recognized one of them as the jock who pushed both he and Kurt into the lockers earlier today. Kurt briskly walked in the other direction with his tray held tightly in front of him, Kole scurried to keep up with his long-legged strides, peering back over his shoulder to make sure the football players weren't following them.

The next table they went to only had one girl sitting there, surrounded by art supplies and several sheets of Bristol board. She had long brown hair and a rather large nose, but Kole found that it suited her face. "May we sit here?" Kurt asked for the both of them, gingerly putting his tray down as the girl eased the Bristol boards away from them, "Be careful with the poster," She said very quickly. "They take twenty minutes each to make."

"Okay," Kole sat down in the seat next to Kurt, across from the girl as he set down his tray and immediately began to start eating his salad.

"I see you're in the speech club." Kurt smiled politely, trying to make conversation.

The girl nodded slightly as she continued to dab her marker over the poster, not looking at either boy as she spoke. "Speech club, Renaissance club, the Muslim Students club, Black Student Union. It's important for me to be immersed in all cultures." She stared at them both with an expression of pride. "I'm an actress."

"Oh, I know." Kurt smiled. "I've seen your videos on MySpace. You're very talented." He complimented her. She paused for a second, as if trying to assess whether his compliments were genuine or not. After a few seconds, she stuck out her hand. "I'm Rachel Berry."

Kurt shook her hand as he introduced himself. Rachel then turned her attention to Kole, who blushed under her intense stare. He dropped his plastic fork and gave her a little wave. "I'm Nikolas Pendleton." She nodded before going back to decorating her posters.

"Perhaps I should join the Speech club." Kurt vocalized. "My dad's making me join something, and, to be honest with you, I have also been toying around with a career in acting."

Rachel immediately became defensive. "I'm not toying around with anything." She said seriously. "The minute I graduate, I'm going directly to Broadway and I'm never looking back." She turned back to the poster. "Besides, you can't join the Speech club; it's full."

"Oh." Kurt said sadly.

Kole frowned at the way this Rachel Berry had out-right rejected Kurt's ideas and dreams. She was not the only student who wanted to get out of this town, and that's saying something on Kole's part, as he has only lived here for three days. She wasn't the only one with big dreams to fulfill and she certainly had no right to turn Kurt away if he wanted to join the Speech club.

She briefly looked away from her poster to stare at Kurt before asking, "Can you carry a tune?"

Kurt perked up immediately. "Yes."

"Are you sure?" Rachel persisted.

"Yes."

Rachel dropped her marker and angled her seat closer to Kurt's, leaning against the table as she tried to move in closer. "Because I don't know if you've heard the good news, but the Glee club is starting up again. It was really awful when that perv, Mr. Ryerson, was in charge, but Mr. Schuester is taking over. He's the really cool Spanish teacher who looks like an old Justin Timberlake. When he was in this school and he was in the Glee club, they won Nationals. Do you know how hard that is? I'm assuming that you're a contralto or a mezzo-soprano. We'll explore your vocal range tomorrow after school. I'll reserve the auditorium." She said all of this without taking a single breath and Kole didn't have to hear her singing to know that she had a good set of lungs.

"I'll see you tomorrow after school, Kurt." Rachel said as she gathered up all her art supplies and her posters and left the table. He and Kurt shared a similar look of bewilderment as they watched her leave. She didn't say anything to Kole whatsoever. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not. It was true that he wasn't exactly eager to make new friends, but this Rachel Berry seemed like a decent enough person, albeit incredibly annoying. Maybe he was right in deciding not to talk to anybody in this school. It didn't bother him to not have friends; he had gone through the last three years of school without friends because everyone thought he was a freak. Maybe they were right, but he'd rather be a freak without friends than something that he isn't.

After lunch was over, Kole only saw Kurt when he walked with him to his different classes. When the final bell rang at 3:15, Kurt said his goodbyes before racing off to a gorgeous black Lincoln Navigator. Kole watched in awe as he drove out of the parking lot, not seeing his parents' equally impressive Suburban until his father pressed down hard on the middle of the steering wheel and the horn blared from across the street.

Students laughed as he blushed bright red and tried to make himself as small as possible as he crossed the street and climbed into the back seat of the SUV. His mother turned around in her seat and smiled at him, showing off slightly yellow teeth, a souvenir from a lifetime of smoking.

"How was your first day of school, Nikole, _chérie?_ " She asked as Kole buckled his seat belt and tried not to flinch at the name. His father glanced back at him from the rear-view mirror, clearly wondering as well, but not enough to ask for himself.

"It was… okay." Kole answered as honestly as he could. It was the truth; his first day at school had been just okay, aside from the initial body check into the locker and Rachel Berry ignoring him completely at lunch. His classes were not too difficult, which was surprising considering that most of them were advanced.

"Did you make any friends?" His father inquired as he started the car and began to pull away from the curb.

Kole paused for a minute. That was an excellent question; _did_ he make any friends today? Sure, Kurt was nice enough, but he was only doing what they secretary and other teachers asked him to do, and that was to show Kole around the school and help him out because he was a new student. Just because he ate lunch with Kurt today didn't mean that Kurt would extend the offer tomorrow. Kole hoped that he would, it would be comforting to know that he had someone at school that he could hang out with and eat lunch with, but the past three years at his old school taught him not to expect too much from teenagers. He thought that he and Kurt were friends, but sitting with Rachel at lunch had pretty much squashed any ideas. He felt awkward, like a third wheel in their plans to audition for the Glee club.

"I'm not sure." Kole finally answered.

* * *

The second day at William McKinley High went almost exactly the same as the first, but with only one exception; Kole hadn't seen Kurt at all. His schedule, like every other student at McKinley, was split into two. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Kole would enjoy his 10th grade French class with Kurt, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he was left to his own devices in 9th grade hell. He tried not to let it bother him as he walked into the cafeteria on Tuesday and saw Kurt and Rachel Berry eating lunch together, before being covered in re-fried spaghetti from a pair of goths.

He knew before that whatever sort of friendship he had imagined with Kurt was just that; an imagination. He knew that finding friends at this school would be difficult so he resolved to just not try it. His parents were planning on staying in Lima for a long time, as long as it took for their restaurant, _Le Croissant,_ to become successful in Lima and wipe out Breadstix. It became very clear too Kole as he spent most of his night applying a fresh coat of paint to the restaurant's dining room that he would be finishing high school in Ohio. It was only four more years. He could go four more years without friends. He had already gone the last four years alone.

When Kole arrived at school on the third day, he had no expectations to meet up with Kurt again. However, he was surprised to see Kurt standing underneath the shade of an oak tree near the front of the school, clutching his satchel to his chest as he glanced around nervously. He noticed him the moment he stepped out of his parents' Suburban when they pulled up to the curb across the street from the school. Kole kept his head staring straight ahead, but his eyes betrayed him as they locked onto Kurt's from across the street.

Kole pretended to be searching for something in his messenger bag, but in reality, he was stalling for time, watching with curious brown eyes. A group of football players taunted Kurt as they walked by, but didn't bother to toss him in the dumpster. Kole waited across the street for cars to pass before he began walking away from his parent's SUV. He told himself yesterday that if Kurt refused to acknowledge his presence or admit that they were, indeed, friends, that he was okay with it. He was used to it. Nevertheless, he couldn't deny the feeling of warmth spreading through his chest and down his fingers and toes at the sight of Kurt smiling and waving him over. He hadn't just been trying to avoid bullies; he had been waiting for Kole to arrive. Kole walked over to him as fast as he could without seeming too eager, but as he tripped over his feet halfway across the parking lot, he knew his plan had failed.

He stumbled but didn't actually fall. It didn't stop several students from laughing at him, of course. Kurt smiled softly as he approached. "You know, with feet that big, I'm surprised you don't trip more often." Kole glanced down at the size 10 Converse on his feet and chuckled awkwardly. In reality, the shoes were several sizes too big for his feet, but his actual shoe size would be teased even more if the students knew. Kole would rather stuff his overly large shoes than wear men's shoes that were sized at 3, the equivalent of a lady's shoe sized at 5 ½. His actual shoe size.

"So I didn't see you at school yesterday." Kole commented as he began walking into the school, Kurt following behind him. He mental smacked himself for going from an awkward conversation to an even more awkward conversation. It was like he was accusing Kurt of cheating on him. They had only met two days ago, he wasn't even sure if they were friends or not. He supposed they have to be if Kurt was waiting for him. Thankfully, Kurt was not offended by his remark.

"Our schedules didn't coincide yesterday; only Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays." Kurt reminded him, smiling slightly. "Plus Rachel Berry took me to the auditorium yesterday after lunch to practice for Glee club auditions." Kurt added. The smile didn't vanish completely from his pale face but it did begin to lack the amusement and the happiness that was previously there. Kole privately wondered if it was because during lunch he and Rachel were both treated to the spaghetti suits.

"It sounds like a good thing, but you don't seem happy about it." Kole said carefully as the two entered the school together. Kurt took over leading the way to Kole's locker first, so he could drop off the books he didn't need for Wednesdays classes, as though he couldn't find his way by himself. He did get lost yesterday.

He was quiet for a few seconds as Kole input his locker combination and opened it, shoving his books inside and gathering the books he needed. Kole felt his heart tighten inside his chest at Kurt's silence. Had he taken things too far? Observed one thing too many? Kurt didn't start speaking again until they began to walk towards his locker. "I sang with Rachel in the auditorium yesterday, I thought we could audition for Glee club together, but…"

"She refused?" Kole guessed when Kurt didn't provide any more information, taking note of the crestfallen expression that marred Kurt's face. He nodded his confirmation. Kole frowned at the thought. It was Rachel who offered to sing with Kurt a few days ago, of course Kurt would assume they were going to audition for the Glee club together. It was sad to see how much his new friend was effected by Rachel, even though he tried to hide it as he unlocked his locker, making sure to open it wide enough so he was hidden behind it.

"Yeah," Kurt sighed heavily as he pulled out a couple of text books and an aerosol can of hair spray, which he spritzed his chestnut brown hair with. He closed his locker to reveal Kole standing on the other side with wide, patient brown eyes surrounded by long, pale eyelashes, he continued. "She said that some stars shine brighter than others, but all stars shine on their own."

Kole didn't know Rachel very well, it was true; he only met her two days ago in the cafeteria—if you could call him introducing himself and her ignoring him a meeting—but she was extremely aggravating and really getting on Kole's nerves. However, a small part of Kole felt a little wary. Kurt had an excuse for hanging out with Kole on his first day of school, as he was appointed to be his guide. He hadn't seen him yesterday because of schedule conflicts, but also because he was meeting with Rachel for lunch and to practice for their Glee club auditions. Anxiety began to bubbly in his stomach, making his fingers start to tremble. Kole assumed they were friends, but what if Kurt was only hanging out with him because Rachel brushed him aside?

As much as he told himself he didn't want to actively try to make friends, he had. Or so he thought. He liked hanging out with Kurt, but he didn't want to be anybody's second choice or backup friend. He didn't want to believe that Kurt was that kind of person, but he still kept his guard up and wrapped his fingers around the strap of his messenger bag to calm his shaking appendages.

"I know Rachel didn't really ask you yesterday, but are you going to audition for Glee club too?" Kurt asked as he and Kole strolled down the hallways towards the French classroom, trying to appear as small as possible when the football players rounded a corner.

"I don't know…" Kole worried his bottom lip between his teeth. "I don't really sing outside of the shower or the car…" His voice was high pitched when he was merely speaking; he knew it got insanely higher when he sang. Would his secret be discovered? Was it even worth it to join the Glee club?

"You should give it a try," Kurt recommended, stopping in front of a cork-board in the hallway, filled with flyers and sign-up sheets for numerous extracurricular activities and sports teams. The Glee club sign-up sheet was standing out against all the others, with only one name signed; Mercedes Jones.

"Mercedes helped me pick a song to audition with yesterday." Kurt said, digging through his satchel for a pen. "I'm sure she could help you too." His tone grew more aggressive than friendly as he continued to rummage inside of his bag, pulling out erasers and loose change and anything but a pen. "Or I could help you find something…"Kole reached into his own messenger bag and instantly wrapped his fingers around his favorite pen, the one that wrote flawlessly and who's ink smelled like blueberries. He gently pressed it into Kurt's hand. Kurt smiled thankfully at him before scrawling his signature under Mercedes Jones.

He handed the pen back to Kole with an encouraging smile. "It would be great if we were in the same club. Otherwise I'd only get to see you in French and at lunch." Kole's eyes moved from the pen in Kurt's hand to the Glee club sign-up sheet with Mercedes and Kurt's names being the only two who signed up for auditions. As anxious as performing in front of another person made him, Kole also knew that Kurt was correct when he said that French and lunch were the only times of the day the two of them had in common. Kurt was his first real friend in a long time and he wanted it to stay that way.

"You'll really help me with auditions?" Kole inquired as he grasped the pen in his left hand, cautiously approaching the board. Kurt nodded, his smile softening around the edges. "Mr. Schuester said the auditions will happen on Thursday after school, so we have some time to prepare after lunch." Kole didn't believe in his ability to sing, or lack thereof, but Kurt was so eager for him to sign up, for the two of them to be in a club together. He figured that the least he could do was audition. Hopefully Kurt would still want to be friends if he was not accepted. Hopefully nobody would figure out his secret.

Kole signed his signature with tiny, looping cursive letters and prayed that the auditions went well tomorrow.


End file.
